1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the field of alternative power sources, and more particularly to a power control device and method in a closed-loop renewable hydrogen energy system.
2. Description of Related Art
A closed-loop renewable hydrogen energy system is generally comprised of two core components. A fuel cell combines constituent hydrogen and oxygen to produce water (H2O) and generates electricity from the energy released by the reaction. On the other hand, an electrolyzer consumes electrical energy to and stores it as chemical energy by dividing water into its constituent elements, hydrogen and oxygen. To complete the closed loop, the water produced by the fuel cell is the input material for the electrolyzer, and the hydrogen and oxygen produced by the electrolyzer are the input materials for the fuel cell.
According to the prior art, the electrolyzer and fuel cell are each separately interfaced with a DC bus via conventional DC-to-DC converter, in order to step-up/down the voltage between the operating voltage of the fuel cell and electrolyzer on one side, and the DC bus on the other. However, multiple DC-to-DC converters are redundant, add weight, cost and complexity to the system, and create an additional point of failure that could disable the system. Therefore, an improved arrangement would be desirable in the art.